Moving Horse from Outdoor Board to Indoor Board with Limited Turnout

[fivestrideline]

@Silver_star

Unfortunately turnout is the same year round, even in the summer. Out around 8, in around noon.

I boarded at a barn like this. People there said they’d “never had a horse have problems!” but they certainly had some ulcery animals, as well as a decent injury rate (and not your average ones, think career ending). Some could be attributed to a poor farrier, but the horses worked HARD at horse shows vs at home, and with no base turnout fitness I wonder if there was a connection. Lots of things happening there that were presented as horses being horses, but I’ve seen a whole lot less of it in places with more outside time.

Lots of work for the barn staff, and my horse did not thrive there. When we were super far south he did pretty well on night turnout in the summer (14-16 hours) and day in the winter (6-8 hours). But I still have a much happier and healthier horse on maximum properly managed turnout.

[StormyDay]

@Silver_star

I appreciate all of these responses and generally agree that more turnout = better. Unfortunately turnout is the same year round, even in the summer. Out around 8, in around noon.
That seems to be the norm for the show oriented barns in this area. I do not currently own a horse (I lease) but it is becoming increasingly obvious to me that if I want the horse I ultimately end up buying to have good turnout (which is a priority for me, because if I get busy with work and kids I want to at least know that my horse is able to get outside and move around) I am going to have to leave this barn

Do you happen to be on the west coast?
Growing up in Seattle area the turnout situation was atrocious at many barns but it was also the norm. The barn I had my horses didn’t turn out Saturday or Sunday. If you wanted your horse out you had to do it yourself. Many other places in the area turned out in shifts, with each shift being about 4h.

[WildGooseChase]

It depends on the horse.
I’ve got a 6 year old Rez Mustang that went from being out 24/7 in nice weather, only inside when pasture footing was unsuitable, or when the weather was bad.

I switched from that to stall board with limited turnout, and my horse flourished. She does get turned out, along with riding, ground work, and general mulling around with me while I am there. She went from stringy and strung out, to muscular, quieter and generally easier to work with. It did take her about 4 months to adjust fully. For a while, she had a hard time coming out of the stall fresh to work, but with training, consistency and proper nutrition, that changed.

This is the best she has ever looked, felt and preformed. I coach a local high school equestrian team and had a student approach me earlier this year about taking her to the meets. This was her last Western Horsemanship class of the season.

[NaturallyHappy]

She’s gorgeous!

[BayMoose]

At most the horse would be tolerating it, some get used to it, some don’t. The vast majority don’t like it IMO.

[clanter]

we have one mare who spent her first five years out 24/7, we get her her and she comes running to be put in Her stall at the first sign of a storm …she had been there done that and does not want to do that again

(Also comes running to put up during the heat of the day to stand in her cooled stall under her fan)

[FjordBCRF]

We’ve been through several different turnout schedules:

Barn 1:
8AM - 2PM late fall through early spring
8PM - 8AM summertime

Barn 2:
6AM - 5PM late fall through early spring
6PM - 9AM summertime

Barns 3 and 4:
8AM - 2PM year round

AND finally barn 5 which we are moving to this weekend currently only brings the horses in for AM and PM feeding. Not sure what they do over the winter yet, but they are turnout advocates.

My problem is having a laminitis prone easy keeper. Barn 5 does have dry lots but no shelter which I don’t love, but I think we will be able to take advantage of the larger pastures the months the grass isn’t actively growing at least.

I have seen zero issues with my gelding no matter the turnout schedule but he is very adaptable and as long as he has hay that seems to be all he cares about. I’m definitely looking forward to him being able to be out more even if it just translates to eating his hay outside. Fresh air and sunshine if nothing else!

[candyappy]

@RhythmNCruise

Along with vices such as wood-chewing, cribbing, weaving, stall-walking, pawing/digging, there is the internal stress and anxiety causing ulcers, the airway irritants from dusty bedding and hay, and the musculoskeletal stiffness and soreness from being penned up in a small space and unable to move as much as nature intended.

This isn’t a given and many of these " vices" , internal stress, anxiety, stiffness etc… are a problem in horses not stalled.

Sometimes there are no other options when you board and especially if you live in a very urban area. My BB had 100 full time stalled horses and there were no issues . Most horse owners would agree it isn’t at all what they would like for their horse.
My own horse was a cribber and he developed that wonderful vice on 24/7 turnout as a yearling.

[Bristol_Bay]

Yes, they adjust. They even adjust to 24/7 stall rest in a 12x12 when injured. Happens all the time.

[ElementFarm]

It’s an adjustment for sure, and some horses even grow to prefer an inside lifestyle, while others need max turnout to keep sanity. But bottom line is that most competition horses do not live outside 24/7, and while we do bemoan the artificial lives show horses endure, there are plenty of horses flourishing around the country with a few hours of turnout a day, even if it isn’t ‘ideal’.

I recently purchased a 4yo WB gelding from the breeder in VA. He’d never been stalled, never worn a blanket, etc. My horses do get stalled overnight, but are out all day (in winter, reversed in summer). The 4yo tried to climb out of the stall the first few nights. We had to creatively block his stall door and moved stalls around so he could see maximum neighbors. Now he’s fine. It’s a few months later, he loves his stall, is fine being in alone if he’s brought in first or turned out last, and will anxiously stand at the gate to come in when he knows it’s that time of the day. Next year he’ll start going to horse shows and will learn how to spend time in a new stall next to strange horses. My horses do get lots of turnout time (more than some of them like, TBH) but they also are happy in their stalls with hay (and fans in season) and are mentally comfortable with spending extended time in there, which is a necessary life skill for not only competition horses, but also for rehab/illness protocols in case they get hurt.

[2DogsFarm]

Jumping back in to say it’s a beautiful day here.
Temps in the low 70s, very low humidity, sunny with a breeze…
I just got back from running errands, didn’t see my 3 in either pasture
Yup, all 3 in a single stall, happy to see me & get a bonus flake of hay.
Water buckets needed topping off, so they’d been in a while.
But only 1 pile in the unused stall, so they’d at least been out for some time.
I expect my 4Pish feeding will find them out.
Horses!